Sugah's Trip to China

3 really means 6

In Beijing there are many highways with only three lanes, but the drivers here make it a six lane highway. Absolutely crazy, sounds like something Klayton would do :-)

We got up early and had our briefing meeting to prepare for the day. We took a cab in the pouring rain to meet Cisco. We actually had a meeting with the President of Cisco in China in addition to the HR director for China. It was amazing. They were both so open, gave a great presentation and answered any and all of our questions. They also gave us flash drives as a gift to take home!

We stopped by the Pacific World Trade where the Office of Economic development for Indiana is located. This office helps Indiana companies that want to come to China (and those that are already here). The state seal is outside the office in the hallway. Here's Sean and the seal.


We then went to Baker and Daniels, LLC. It's a law firm that is actually based in Indianapolis. They have several offices here and was one of the first US firms to come to China. They bought us lunch, take a wild guess, yes, Pizza! This time it was Pizza Hut. But they eat pizza with waffle cut french fries. They reminded me of the fries from Chik-fil-a but with the curly fry seasoning from Arbys. Interesting none-the-less. Venki, my classmate had me take a picture.


They gave us a lot of great insight to Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in China (which is my group's paper topic!). Here's a group shot (some were not there). Notice one of my new pearl necklaces ;)


We went to Motorola after lunch and met with the head of the PR department for China and a woman from the R&D institute. Again, really great meeting. We got more info on IPR and had a great conversation about challenges facing the department in China when having to work with the HQ in the US. It gave me a lot of good things to think about for my UK Expansion paper for my other class. That's due when I get back.


We took a cab about an hour away to Peking University to meet with a Professor of Strategic Management and the Associate Dean. We had a good discussion about issues facing the education system in China. The professor confirmed what businesses have been telling us since we arrived, MBA students in China are NOT prepared to work right away. They are missing the soft skills you would learn in say, AKPsi! The schools teach theory but not practical information. The students don't work in groups, don't know how to lead or make decisions. Again, more great things for my UK Expansion paper. I also got a school tshirt for $1.70! My skills are sharpening!

SO YES, I'm learning lots! :-)

We were at the Guanghau School of Management - it is ranked either #1 or #2 in China.


This is a pretty lake in the middle of campus.


The professor took us to a Chinese banquet at the faculty club. There is where I had my first encounter. My first encounter with a non-western toilet! It was an experience to say the least...squatting over this hole in the ground! I had to chuckle to myself, the Business school had western toilets, nice soap and hand towels. This nice restaurant had holes, no soap and no towels. (that's why you bring that stuff with you!)

The food was good. We left during a down pour and had to walk in the rain (and flooded) streets across campus to get a cab. The campus is closed so cabs can only drop off inside campus, not pick up (unless you happen to be there when someone gets out of it).

We have two free days and then we're off to Wuxi and Suzhou. My group is going to do street research tomorrow for our paper. We're going to visit all these vendors at the Silk Market (a.k.a. bargain and shop) and then look for Mao's chicken, apparently it's very similar to KFC and might be considered the McDowell's of McDonald's (Coming to America). We're also going to visit the purse lady - known for her great replications of purses. Then we'll hit up the Wal-Mart behind the Forbidden City (ha-ha) to see what it's like. I'll be sure to report back!

BTW, I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but blogspot is blocked in China. I can update it, but can't see it. Luckily, I still get comments through my email....thanks! They make me laugh and feel closer to home.

Well, time to go write my journal for class.

posted by Chrissy @ 10:24 AM